Soap cone and holder

ABSTRACT

A CONICALLY SHAPED SINGLE USE ARTICLE OF SODIUM STEARATE AND ADDITIVE SOAP ADOPTED TO NEST WITH OTHER SIMILARLY CONSTRUCTED SINGLE USE ARTICLES OF SOAP SO AS TO BE EASILY AND INDIVIDUALLY WITHDRAWN FROM A DISPENSER.

April 24, 1973 C. E. GIBSON ET AL SOAP CONE AND HOLDER Filed Aug. 4,, 1970 FIG. I I

FIG-4 11 FIG. 5

FIG. 6

INVENTOR. CLEO EDWIN GIBSON LEE BEN GIBSON DI/$3 W AT TORN EYS United States Patent O 3,729,421 SOAP CONE AND HOLDER Cleo E. Gibson and Lee Ben Gibson, both of R0. Box 416, Snellville, Ga. 30278 Continuation-impart of abandoned application Ser. No.

378,906, June 29, 1964. This application Aug. 4, 1970,

Ser. No. 60,923

Int. Cl. C11d 17/00 US. Cl. 252-90 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A conically shaped single use article of sodium stearate and additive soap adapted to nest with other similarly constructed single use articles of soap so as to be easily and individually withdrawn from a dispenser.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 378,906, filed June 29, 1964, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a single use soap article and a dispensing container therefor.

The use of conventional bar, or cake hand soap by successive users in either public or private facilities is both distasteful and unhygenic. For single use, and subsequent disposal, solid bars of soap have been formed of smaller and smaller size to a degree diminished below that which may be conveniently handled by the bather. Nevertheless, even such small soap bars are wasteful in that only a minor portion of their total Volume is consumed in a single use.

The present invention provides an individual single use soap article formed from a quantity of soap amply sufficient for single use but without leaving appreciable residue after such single use. The invention further provides means for the storage and dispensing of such individual single use soap articles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary feature of the present invention is the formation of a hollow article of sodium stearate soap or soap material. By the hollow construction, there is provided an article of external dimensions readily handled and retained by the user, but without requiring the quantities of soap used in a solid bar or cake of equal external dimensions. The hollow construction also provides a frangible article easily crushed by the user to provide a soap mass, adequate for single use but not excessive in quantity. In the preferred form of the invention here shown, the configuration is that of an open-ended hollow cone. Such conical articles may be readily nested and easily dispensed individually. The hollow conical configuration of the article of the invention also permits the use of the unique dispenser mechanism of the present invention for the individual dispensing of the novel soap article.

It is therefore among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel soap article particularly adapted for economical, single use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hollow frangible soap article whereby large external dimensions may be provided with a minimum total volume of soap.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hollow, conical soap article whereby convenient nesting of such articles may be obtained and whereby individual dispensing thereof is facilitated.

3,729,421 Patented Apr. 24, I973 The invention also includes among its objectives the provision of a storage and dispensing container for the hollow, conical soap articles.

Numerous other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from consideration of the specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS As depicted in the drawings, the soap article of the present invention is a thin walled, substantially rigid but readily frangible hollow conical member formed from sodium stearate and additives which impart a certain amount of flexibility and castability to the article while also negating the blocking or welding effect of stacked soap articles. It will, of course, be recognized that the inventive concept is not dependent upon the length, diameter, thickness or the specific configuration of the article here presently suggested. Various other hollow and/or frangible soap shapes and configurations are contemplated. As an illustration of an appropriate size and thickness of a soap cone appropriate as a single use hand soap article, it is suggested that the length may be formed from one inch to two and one-quarter inches; a length of approximately one and one-half inches is presently considered preferable. An appropriate diameter at the large Open end of the cone for the lengths suggested may be from one-half to one inch, with a preferable diameter for the preferred one and one-half inch length of three-fourths of an inch. A wall thickness for appropriate frangibility yet adequate volume may range from a minimum of .0065 inch to a maximum of .0130 inch with a preferred thickness of .0090 inch for a one and one-half inch length and three-fourths inch diameter cone.

The preferred form of the invention contemplates the use of a sodium stearate soap material together with additives such as Lemol (polyvinyl alcohol), Lemofiex (polyvinyl alcohol which is internally plasticized), Methocel (methyl cellulose), and gelatin which serve to produce a soap article which possesses a requisite degree of flexibility, is capable of being cast into various shapes and does not block or weld to adjacent soap articles. Further, the invention embraces the use of a soap impregnated material, for instance, a soluble form sustaining and retaining paper impregnated with the sodium stearate soap and additive as above described.

The following examples illustrate the components of various soap articles:

EXAMPLE I 15 cc. of 40% liquid sodium stearate soap were dispersed within cc. of water. To this solution 2.5 grams of Lemol (polyvinyl alcohol) were added and the resulting solution was then cast into a film by applying the solu tion to a Teflon coated heated surface. The heated surface dried the solution leaving a film which spontaneously released from the Teflon coated surface. The resulting film was rather tough but moderately easy to dissolve and appeared to be suitable for use as a soap cone.

EXAMPLE II 15 cc. of 40% liquid sodium stearate soap were dispersed within 100 cc. of water. To this solution, 2.5 grams of Methocel (methyl cellulose) were added and the resulting solution was then cast into a film by applying the solution to a Teflon coated heated surface. The heated surface dried the solution leaving a film which spontaneously released from the Teflon coated surface. The resulting film was quite suitable for casting into hollow conical shapes and dispensing from a holder and adequately resisted blocking or welding between adjacent soap articles EXAMPLE III The best film produced resulting from the dispersal of 15 cc. of 40% liquid sodium stearate soap Within 100 cc. of water and the addition thereto of 2.5 grams of gelatin (a protein obtained from boiling animal tissues). The resulting solution was cast into a film by applying the solution to a Teflon coated heated surface which dried the solution. The resulting film then spontaneously released from the heated surface. This film proved superior to the other examples and possessed uniformity, flexibility and was easily dissolved. Moreover, this example resisted blocking or welding between adjacent soap articles.

Other basic soap compounds employed were potassium stearate, sodium oleate and sodium palmitate. These soap compounds were not quite as hard as sodium stearate and therefore did not perform quite as well as the sodium stearate. However, their use as a basic soap compound in place of sodium stearate is certainly considered as being within the scope of this invention.

Humectant materials were also incorporated into the soap article in an effort to preserve the flexibility of the article and keep it from becoming too dry and brittle. Substances used for this purpose were dipropylene glycol and glycerine and it was found that 0.5% by volume was an optimum amount which produced acceptable results. However, since only the lowermost soap cone within a holder is exposed to the drying effects of the atmosphere, it was felt that humectant materials were not needed in the vast mjority of manufactured soap cone articles.

Referring specifically to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 6, the numeral indicates the hollow soap article as a conventional pointed cone. As indicated by FIGS. 4 and 5, the present invention while preferably of generally hollow conical form, may be varied as by the truncated formation of the cone 11, as shown in FIG. 4, or by generally rounded end as the cone 12 of FIG. 5. However, various other thin-walled hollow frangible shapes, as dictated by the choice of design or facility of manufacture, may be resorted to. The present invention is not limited nor confined to any specific mode of manufacture of the conical soap article; it is contemplated that they may be molded, cast, dipped, extruded or spun from narrow sheets of soap material.

The present invention embraces the provision of an efficient, effective, economical dispensing means consisting of a simple open-ended tube 14 of such length as to enclose a substantial plurality of nested hollow, conical soap articles as may be required for an extended period of soap supply. As here shown, the cylindrical dispensing tube 14 may be supported by a pair of spaced rings 15 adapted to be secured to a wall or cabinet by brackets 16. The upper end of the cylindrical body 10 may be closed by a removable cap 18, the conical soap articles being loaded through the open upper end of the tube when the cap is removed. The cap 18 is, of course, replaced after loading the cylinder to preclude the entry of dust, dirt or moisture. The lower open end of the tube is provided with a restrictor, here shown in the form of a resilient ring 19 seated within a groove 20 adapted to yieldably restrain the upper end of the lowermost article. Thus, the lower end of the bottom article protrudes from the lower end of the tube to facilitate easy grasp of the lower article which may be individually removed without fracture by virtue of the yieldability of the resilient ring 19.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides a novel, convenient and inexpensive soap article for adequately supplying the required soap for single use. The soap or soap material of the conical soap element preferably leaves no residue and is preferably completely consumed in a single use. It will be noted that the invention further embraces the provision of a convenient, simple and economical dispenser for such conical soap articles.

It will, of course, be understood that the specific soap article and dispenser herein presented is by way of illustration only, and is meant to be in no way restrictive; therefore, numerous changes and modifications may be made and the full use of e uivalents resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as outlined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A shaped article in the form of a hollow circular cone having a length between one and two and one quarter inches, a base diameter between one half inch and one inch and a wall thickness between .0065 and .013 inch, said cone being formed of a soap material in the proportions of approximately 15 cc. of a 40% liquid soap selected from the group consisting of sodium stearate, potassium stearate, sodium oleate and sodium palmitate soaps, cc. of water and 2.5 grams of a material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol, methyl cellulose and gelatin.

2. An article as in claim 1 wherein the liquid soap is sodium stearate soap and the last mentioned material is gelatin.

3. An article as in claim 1 wherein the cone has a length of one and one half inches, a base diameter of three-quarters of a inch and a wall thickness of .0090 inch.

4. An article as inclaim 3 wherein the last mentioned material is gelatin and the liquid soap is sodium stearate soap.

5. A plurality of the articles defined in claim 1 arranged in nested form with the outer surface of each article fitted into the holder space of the next adjacent article.

6. A plurality of nested articles as defined in claim 5, arranged in a cylindrical dispenser with the pointed ends of the conical members directed downwardly.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 54,439 2/ 1920 McLaren 731.1 1,436,929 11/1922 Zink 252-434 2,251,328 8/1941 Ehret 252134 979,381 12/1910 Conery 252-134 1,558,922 10/1925 Reilly 731.11 2,747,768 5/ 1956 Raines 22125 2,329,694 7/1943 Bodman 252134 LEON D. ROSDOL, Primary Examiner W. E. SCHULZ, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

